1 » The Florida Gators released this week a pair of question-and-answer stories with coordinators Brent Pease (offensive) and Dan Quinn (defensive) on their thoughts following the 2012 Orange & Blue Debut. Pease pointed to the improvement of the offensive line as what he was most impressed with after watching film. “We established an identity in being physical up front and being able to run the ball. I think our core kids there are very good. They are quick learners and they are very good athletes,” he said. “I think we built some depth that if we get some injuries during the season, we can rotate guys and put them in positions. We should be good there because there are good players there and there’s experience.” Quinn said that junior transfer defensive tackle Damien Jacobs, freshman linebacker Antonio Morrison and defensive backs sophomore Jabari Gorman and junior Jaylen Watkins stood out for him though it was the first two that took the biggest step. “[Jacobs] showed in the spring that he had power and that he could convert from run into pass rush,” he said. “Antonio Morrison continued to impress me with how it wasn’t too big for him – he got it. He’s got good instincts at the linebacker position.”

2 » Florida defensive tackle Jaye Howard may not be getting as much attention as some other current and former Gators heading into the 2012 NFL Draft, but he is still doing whatever he can to prove to teams that he is worth selecting relatively early in the process. NFL.com recently released a short video interview with Howard in which he talks about getting ready for the event later this month. “[Teams are] not going to invest any money in anyone who is not conducting themselves in the right manner,” he said. “You have to carry yourself in the right way all the time. I’m going look at the coaches right in the face and square and tell them that I’m going to provide energy to the team, be a team player and try to compete to earn a spot on the team.”

[EXPAND Click to expand and read two more BITS in this post.]3 » Former Florida cornerback Janoris Jenkins’s stock continues to fall as the NFL Draft approaches. According to NFL.com’s Albert Breer, who cites sources with three different teams, Jenkins “admitted in pre-draft interviews that he continued his drug use at North Alabama.” He had previously claimed that being dismissed from the Gators was the dose of reality he needed to stop smoking. UNA claims that Jenkins was tested while with the program as part of a “Zero tolerance behavioral contract” he signed that included random drug testing. Breer reports that “a significant number of NFL executives cast a skeptical eye toward” such a statement despite many seeing him as potentially the best cornerback in the entire crop of players available. “It’s not just his personal situation with the kids and different moms. This is a multiple offender of the drug policy in college, and it’s not like there were no character concerns at North Alabama,” an AFC personnel executive told Breer. “He had multiple opportunities to get away from it. He didn’t at Florida, and he went to North Alabama and he wasn’t clean there. You just wish the situation at North Alabama was clean, that he had a rebirth, from a personal and football character standpoint. But it was more of the same.” You can read much more about Jenkins including opinions from other executives here.

4 » Former Gators DB Joshua Shaw will be eligible to play for the USC Trojans in 2012 after being granted a medical hardship waiver by the NCAA, according to ESPNLosAngeles.com. Shaw, a California native who transferred from Florida in order to be close to home (his father and grandfather are sick), will compete for the starting job at both strong safety and cornerback.[/EXPAND]

2 Comments

If he couldn’t get on the field as anything other than a ST player, are you really that bummed to see him go? He was kind of like Brantley in that he benefited from playing sub-par competition and was ranked way higher than he should have been. Kiffen can have him, that program isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

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